Marta Kostyuk

Marta Kostyuk was destined to play tennis. Her father, Oleh, was the technical director of a junior tennis tournament in Kiev, and her mother, Talina, is a former professional tennis player who reached world number 391 in the 1990s. The Ukrainian is one of the most promising players on the WTA circuit. At just 22, Marta Kostyuk has one WTA Tour title to her name, which she won in Austin in 2023. She broke into the Top 20 in May 2024 and has remained there ever since.

Having started playing tennis at the age of 5, Kostyuk quickly distinguished herself in the youth categories, winning the Orange Bowl and the Petits As. In the junior category, she won the Australian Open at the age of 14 and reached world number two. Her best Grand Slam performance as a pro came in Melbourne, where she reached the quarter-finals in 2024.

Junior career: A Grand Slam title at the age of 14

Very precocious, Marta Kostyuk made her mark by winning Les Petits As in 2016. The Ukrainian was just 13 at the time. She continued her rapid progress in the juniors in the months that followed and created a surprise by winning the 2017 Australian Open Juniors against all the odds at the age of 14 in her first appearance at a Major in this category. In the final, she beat Rebeka Masarova, a Swiss player who has since become a naturalised Spaniard. Marta Kostyuk ended 2017 with an ITF title in Dunakeszi.

WTA career: inconsistent beginnings before breaking into the top 20

Marta Kostyuk turned professional in 2018, reaching the third round of the Australian Open at the age of 15. However, she was soundly beaten by her compatriot Elina Svitolina, who was in the top 5 at the time. After several months of inconsistent performances and results, Kostyuk climbed the rankings and 2024 was the year of her revelation. Thanks in particular to a first Masters 1000 semi-final in Indian Wells at the start of the year, she was ranked 16th in the world in June and continued to confirm her progress in the game. Kostyuk managed to beat players like Gauff, Pegula, Zheng, Mertens, Svitolina and Vondrousova.
 

WTA honours list: One title, two WTA 500 finals lost

In her first final on the Tour in March 2023, Marta Kostyuk triumphed over Varvara Gracheva, who was representing Russia at the time before becoming a naturalised French citizen a few months later, at the Austin tournament (6-3, 7-5). The following year, she contested two WTA 500 finals against Boulter in San Diego and Rybakina in Stuttgart, but fell at the last hurdle on both occasions.

Marta Kostyuk has been married to her long-term partner, Heorhii Sudakov, since the end of 2023.
She regularly posts photos of her dog, whom she takes with her to tournaments and training sessions, including at the Mouratoglou Academy.
The invasion of her country, Ukraine, by Russia in February 2022 prompted Marta Kostyuk to speak out publicly on the subject. She is calling for Russian athletes to be excluded from sporting competitions, particularly in tennis. At the 2022 Wimbledon tournament, the tournament organisers decided not to allow Russian players in all the draws. It also decided to stop shaking hands with Russian and Belarusian players, regardless of the outcome of the matches. A controversy arose on this subject at the 2022 US Open, during her first round match against Victoria Azarenka, representing Belarus.